Car-door.



R. V. SAGE & R. E. WILDER.

CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4. l9l6.

1,204,692. 1 Patented Nov. 14, 1 916.

f WITNESSES: 9 mm TORS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RALPH V. SAGE, OF PHILADELPHIA, AND RALPH E. WILDER, OF JOHNSTOW'N,

PENNSYLVANIA.

' CAR-DOOR.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 4, 1916. Serial No. 76,106.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that we,

and useful Improvements in Car-Doorsy and we do hereby declare ,thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

Our invention relates to the construction of car doors with particularreference to metallic doors used on dumping cars; 'to forming the doorsof pressed steel in a particular way to minimize the amount of materialused for stifl'ening and strength-' ening the same; in utilizing thedoor Spreaders for adding to the rigidity thereof without the use ofunnecessary and extraneous parts, thereby also lightening and cheapeningthe construction; and to other items as will hereinafter appear.

Referring now to the annexed sheet of drawings which forms part of thisspecification ;Figure l is a vertical longitudinal sectional elevationthrough a portion of a hopper bottom car taken on the line II of Fig. 2;Fig. 2 isa vertical transverse sectional elevation taken on the lineII-'-II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional elevationon a larger scale, illustrating the manner of attaching the links to thespreader bars and the spreader bars to the doors, the left hand sectionof this figure being taken in front of the clevis member and the righthand section being taken behind the clevis member; Fig.4 is an elevationand section showing the manner of attaching the links to the spreaderbars; Fig. 5 is a detail of the corner portion of one of the doorsillustrating the manner of attaching the doors to the spreader bar; Fig.6 is a detail of the looking pawl and ratchet mechanism for locking thedoor operating shaft; Fig. 7 is an elevation showing in detail anothermanner of attaching the links to the spreader bars;

RALPH, SAGE, residing at Philadelphia, county of Phila-.

- and Fig. 8 is an elevation showing still another manner of attachingthe links to the spreader bars.

Referring now. to the characters of reference on the drawings :-1represents the car in general, 2 one of the hoppers at the lower portionthereof, -3 are the doors which are preferably formed of pressed steelin the shape of a shallow an or box with flanges projecting on all si esthereof. At the for- Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

ward end of the doors, these flanges are formed upwardly at 4:, asillustrated, and substantially in line with or in the same plane as thebody or main plate portion of the door. 5 are spreader bars eachillustrated as of rolled channel section with upper central portion 6, apair of web portions 7 and a pair of flanges 8 projecting outwardly fromthe extremities of the webs, and, for the purpose of economy of designto produce greatest strength and stiffness, the central portion 6 andthe flanges 8 are thicker than the webs 7, thereby providing morematerial at a distance from the neutral axis and making a stronger andstifier section. By reason of the width of the spreader section in'thedirection ,of the flanges 8, this section is also very strong laterallyas well as in the Clevis portions 9, as illustrated, are riveted to thespreader bars by the rivets 10 and provided with an approximatelysemicircular bearing portion therein, adapted to receive the ends of theT-bolts 11 which are provided with the threaded shank portions 12,adapted to be screwed into the corresponding threaded sockets 13 whichare provided on the ends of the supporting links 14 .and 15. The bentupper ends of the links 14 and 15 are indicated as 16 and-are providedwith pivots 17. A straight link 18 1s hinged to this pivot 17 andprovided with pivot 19 at its other end, whereby it is connected to theoutstanding lug on the sheave 20. The sheave 20 is provided with agroove in its periphery, which groove may be provided w th projectionsadapted to receive the operating chains 21 and 22 which are connectedwith the smaller winding sheave 23 which is mounted on the operatingshaft 24. The end of the operating shaft 24 is provided with a ratchetwheel 25, adapted to be held in position desired by the pawl 26 providedwith looking detent 27. The cover plate or central ridge of the carforming a portion of the hopper is illustrated as 28, and extendsdownwardly to form part of the door jamb.

Referring now to the connection between the lifting and lowering linksand the door spreader bars, as illustrated in Fig. 7 :29 is a T-boltwith head 30, which is pivotally mounted in the clevis 9, which clevisis secured to the spreader bars 5, which.

spreader bars are secured to a pair of doors as illustrated. The upperend of this T-bolt or pivot bolt 29 has an upset or enlarged portion 31provided with an axial cylindri' cal opening 32 therein, provided withan internal screw. The link in this case is illustrated as 33, formed ofa bar of fiat steel or other section as desired and has a cylindricalend 34, provided with an external screw-thread which is screwed into theinternal thread in the projecting end 31 of the bolt. This provides asimple connection and one which enables the links to be lengthened orshortened as desired, to properly adjust the tight closing of the door.

Referring now to the connection of the links to the spreader bar anddoors, as illustrated in Fig. 8:The link 33 is provided with acylindrical end 34 having an external screw-thread thereon, this being aleft-hand thread, while the shank 12 of'the T or pivot bolt is providedwith a corresponding righthand thread. These two portions are adjustablyconnected together by means of the sleeve-nut 35 with internal opening36, the upper end of the same having an internal left-hand screw threadand the lower end When it is desired to adjust the doors sothat theywill close tightly and to allow for wear, slack or deflection of any ofthe parts, the pin or pivot 17 is withdrawn from the projection on thesheave 20 and from the bent end 16 of the link and the link is turnedaround its axis to screw or unscrew it as deing to the illustration ofFig. 7, is accomplished in a similar manner, namely :The pin 17 iswithdrawn, the link 33 with the threaded end 34 is screwed into or outof the internally threaded socket 31 until the length is as desired,whereupon the pin is replaced through the upper end of the link andthrough the projection on the sheave 20 and secured in position. Withthe connection of the links to the T-bolts or pivot bolts as illustratedin Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7, when the pin 17 is in place, the links cannotrotate nor can the screw-threaded connections move so that an adjustmentof this kind once made will not be changed by any jars or vibrations.

The adjustment of the lengths of the links of the construction shown inFig. 8 is made by turning the sleeve nut 35 in either direction asdesired, to lengthen or shorten the connection. The adjustment made withthe construction shown in Fig. 8 can be easily accomplished at any timewithout removing any of the parts.

By referring toFig. 2 it will be noted that each spreader bar 5 extendsbelow and is secured to and connects a pair of doors, one on each-sideof the central longitudinal ridge of the car, the clevis 9 being securedto the spreader bar about midway of its length, while the major portionof the door operating mechanism is located within the hollow centrallongitudinal ridge of the car. When the doors are in the position asillustrated and it is desired to dump the contents of the car, a wrenchis applied to the square end of the shaft 24, the detent 27 turned outof contact with the pawl 26 which is then released from contact with thetooth of the ratchet wheel 25 and the shaft either turned or allowed toturn in such a way that the doors drop down and discharge the load.After this is done the shaft 24 is turned in the opposite direction,thereby winding the chain 21 around the winding sheave 23, causing thesheave 20 to rotate clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 1, whereupon the links16 are lifted upwardly and their bent ends ultimately rest upon the topof the projection shoWn on the sheave 20. are closed thepawl 25 issecured in place against one of the ratchet teeth by the detent 27 whichis positioned as shown in Fig. 6. When the doors are closed and lockedtheir weight does not affect the winding chains 21 or the operatingshaft 24, but the weight of the doors is sustained directly on thesheave 20 by the bent ends 16 of the links 14 and 15.

It should also be noted that the lower ends of the door links 14 and 15are provided with simple screw-threaded connections to the spreader bar,thereby simplifying and lightening the construction in these respects ascompared with other more complicated and heavier devices.

As compared with other constructions,

our doors are very siinple, with a few numremain tight.

ber V of parts, light in weight, the door spreaders bearing directlyagainst the body or flat plate portion of the door, as illustrated,while the downwardly projecting flanges on the sides of the spreaderbars serve to further stiffen the doors and maintain them of propershape to close and The construction of the spreader bars with thickerflanges and top, and with thinner webs is a particular feature of ourinvention conducing to lightness, strength and economy. I

It will also be noticed that the doors close against the comparativelythin edges of the central ridge cover plate 28 and other similar thinedges of the plate on their other sides so that even should any dust ofcoal, limestone or other lading adhere' to the doors, the doors whenclosing will cut through this material and seat themselves solidlyagainst the hopper-bottom, the metal portions contacting with thenecessary tightness.

Although we have shown and described our invention in considerabledetail, we do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific detailsshown and described, but may I use. such substitutions, modifications.or equivalents thereof as are embraced within the scope of our inventionor as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is 1. A dumping car door comprising a plate the doorplate and said upwardly formed,

flanges and secured thereto. v

2. A dumping car door comprising a plate provided with flanges on thehinged and side portions thereof, portions of the side flanges beingformed upwardly in linewith the door plate, and a door spreader restingagainst the door plate and said upwardly formed flange portions andsecured thereto. 3. In a dumping car, a pair of doors each hinged at oneof their sides. each of said doors being formed of a plate with integralflanges on the edges thereof, portions of the side flanges being formedupwardly and approximately in line with the door plate, a door spreaderresting against each door plate and the upwardly formed flanges thereofand secured thereto, and means secured to said door spreader for raisingand lowering said doors as desired.

4. A pair of dumping car doorseach com posed of a plate provided withflanges on the hinged and side edges thereof, portions of the sideflanges being bent upwardly, a door spreader secured within the offsetportion so formed, and means secured to said spreaders for .raising andlowering the doors.

.5. A pair of dumping car doors-spaced apart, provided with a doorspreader of inverted U-section, with outstanding flanges, the centralportion of the section being secured to the body portions of said doors,a clevis secured to the spreader between the doors and adapted to'receive a pivoted bolt provided with a projecting threaded shank, a linkmember provided with an integral with an upwardly projecting threadedshank, a link provided with an upset and internally threaded end adaptedto receive the screw-threaded shank, and means for internally threadedend adapted to be se-- cured to the threaded shank aforesaid, and

operating said link to open and close the 7. A dumping door composed 'ofa pressed formed upwardly in line with the body portion of the door, adoor spreader resting directly against the up-pressed portions of saidflanges and the plate portion of said door.

8. A dumping door composed of a plate with flanges on the edges thereof,portions of the side flanges being bent upwardly, thereby providing arecess in said flanges, a door spreader mountedin' said recess andsecured to the door.

9. A door spreader comprising a metal bar of channel form with a pair ofthin webs each slightly inclined toward the upper connecting portion,and flanges projecting outwardly from the extremities of said Webs, theflanges being thicker than said webs.

10. A door spreader section of deep channel section with a pair ofcomparatively thin webs connected by an integral plate portion, a flangeprojecting outwardly from the other edge of each web portion, saidflanges and plate portion being thicker than said webs.

11. The combination with apair of car doors of a door spreader securedthereto, 130

comprising a metal bar of channel form,

' with a pair of Webs integrally connected on Webs.

In testimony whereof We hereunto affix our signatures in the presence oftwo witnesses.

RALPH V. SAGE.

RALPH E. WILDER.

Witnesses: LEONARD A. SErrz, J r.,

OLIVER B. Hroxox.

